'The Secret of Moonacre' is predictable and slow

“The Secret of Moonacre” is one of those slow unfolding stories that take forever to get to the magic of the story. That doesn’t make it a bad movie, just a long one that doesn’t mix with today’s standards of immediate reveal. A girl is left orphaned by her father and all she receives for an inheritance is a book. In the spirit of “Inkwell,” “the Never Ending Story,” and “the Princes Bride,” the book transports the girl to a new world. In this case, it is the world of her family’s history, which is all too present at her uncle’s where she goes to live. The uncle is the typical bachelor character – somewhat unpleasant with numerous rules about where to go and what to do. The nanny is unlikable, fainting and prissy. (She does redeem herself, somewhat later in the movie.) The storyline is predictable. The two takeaways from this film are that pride is the real curse and love doesn’t change everything, but hate does. The film is a decent sort if you like the slower paced films that the British seem to enjoy so much, or if you like to know where the story is going before it get’s there.